Unopened Gifts

I went to confession yesterday, not because I was troubled by anything in particular, but simply because I am trying to get in the habit of going to confession more regularly. Actually, I wasn't really planning on going at all, but when my husband came home he told me that he had made a point of getting home early enough so that I could go to church. Thanks love!

I always feel so much better after confession. Being a convert to Catholicism, I haven't gone to confession more than a handful of times, but so far, each time I go I am given exactly what I need. It really is an amazing gift.

As a Protestant Christian, I always viewed The Catholic practice of "going to confession" as another road block that the Church had placed between the people and God. I confessed my sins to God in prayer and through corporate confession as a part of the church services I attended. Of course, God forgives sins when we confess them in these circumstances, but to have a priest, and God through him, listen, look one in the eye, and say the words of absolution is to experience forgiveness in a much more personal, nurturing way.

The priest who heard my confession stated that penance should be a gift, not a punishment. This statement started me thinking about all the gifts God gives me that I just don't bother opening. If there were packages on the table each morning, packages wrapped in brilliant papers with elegant bows, I would never be able to walk by and resist the urge to open them. Yet how easy is it to talk myself out of opening the gifts of daily prayer, Eucharist, confession, and trust that God places before me each day?

Sacrament of Matrimony

"By reason of  their state in life and of their order, [Christian spouses] have their own special gifts in the People of God." This grace proper to the sacrament of Matrimony is intended to perfect the couple's love and to strengthen their indissoluble unity.  By this grace they "help one another to attain holiness in their married life and in welcoming and educating their children." from the Catechism of the Catholic Church 1641.

My husband and I have always found joy and strength in thinking of our marriage as a sacrament.  We wed with a mixed-marriage in the eyes of the Church; my husband is a cradle Catholic and I was a devote Protestant.  Sacramental marriage was a new, and very appealing, concept to me.

We were also agreed that faith would be an important part of our marriage.  We wanted to share prayers and devotions on a regular basis.  Now, four years later, the desire to have a vibrant faith-life is strong, but life keeps getting in the way.  We pray together, sometimes.  We read the Bible together, sometimes.

In searching the web for devotional inspiration, I have found many amazing blogs focused on the Catholic Family, and I thought I'd seek and share ideas for the Catholic Marriage, ways to help each other attain holiness as well as welcoming and educating children.

Please post your comments, ideas, and practices so that together we can support the sacrament of marriage!